The Bruce Company in Middleton

Seven-day return policy on Christmas lights is unreasonably restrictive. Just discovered this when I attempted to return unopened package. Amazon next time, or more consumer friendly alternatives in Madison.

Had a great time shopping here. Friendly staff and really good quality stuff. Will definitely recommend to friends and family.

Sam showed me where the plants were and was extremely nice

There needs to be 2 lines for face painting and balloons.

Favorite spot for succulents, herbs, and flowers

The plants were in bad shape and there was way to many employees just standing around

We had a home built by Veridian and they use Bruce for lawncare. They offer one free washout. Installed the lawn before a strong storm that washed out most of the yard. It all settled in the drainage spots. Very little seed ever took hold. When we redeem the wash out the didnt overseed anything. They fixed 4 small spots and left us with a crabgrass field. Wouldnt recommend.

We had a great experience working with Bruce Company on an extensive landscape project which included a Waupun stone retaining wall, UniLock pavers for a large patio, raised garden bed, several large trees, shrubs, perrenials, sod and placement of large boulders. The team included Megan Knutson, Jon Olson and Kevin Smart. Onsite installation workers and team leaders, Rich, Misael, Pepe and Lloyd all did excellent work. In spite of many rain delays over a period of 3 months, the project was completed within budget. We were very involved day to day and all the Bruce Co. employees were very responsive and professional. Ann Jauquet & Bruce Hendrickson

Extremely unprofessional check out service and poor selection. I went hoping Bruce Co. would offer some interesting selections but their stock limited. I did buy a basket and found out later I paid much more than prettier baskets elsewhere. The part of my experience that earned the one star though was check out. I had all of my purchases, which included a basket and several smaller flower packs. The young man who checked me out never asked if I wanted a box to carry them in, nor did he say hello or thank you. Instead, the whole time he was talking to the young lady checker across the room about how he took so long in the bathroom because it was Taco Tuesday at some place he went to. Really? I think Im done with Bruce company and will stick to small, more local places. Prices are more reasonable and customer service is actually customer service.

My husband and I are very disappointed with the work done on our property by the Bruce Company. We have a flooding issue in our backyard with standing water. Bruce Company recommended regrading our yard and assured us that this would solve the issue. The first time they regraded it (November 2022) it did not solve the issue. Bruce Company came out to look at it again after I contacted them and we were told by Bruce Company that it was not graded correctly by them. Bruce Company then regraded it for the second time (summer 2023). In addition, our pavers were left unsealed for the whole winter. We still continue to have standing water and the issue was not solved. I have called Bruce Company and also reached out to the person who was coordinating the project to express that the problem was not corrected. I have not had follow up from them. We trusted Bruce Company to have them correct the issue in our yard. However, it was done incorrectly, regraded for a second time and ultimately our issue is still not fixed. I do not recommend Bruce Company. They are expensive and do not fix the issue that they state they will.

I had very good luck with the oaks I bought there, but the Sugar Maple seemed to struggle the first summer and was last to leaf out the following spring When I expressed concern to the Bruce Co. desk and floated the idea of returning it, my concerns were dismissed with the suggestion that it was transplantation shock. I was told to wait and see. After a few summers of anemic growth, the tree started to wilt and brown. I submitted a wood sample to the UW Plant Pathology lab and they returned a diagnoses of fatal, arboreal verticillium wilt. I strongly suspect it was infected at purchase. Since years had passed and the warranty had now lapsed, I did not try to return it. I did however buy the trees replacement elsewhere.

Great selection of plants , flowers and everything you can imagine for gardening but very unprofessional attitude with the checkout/cashier employee. Not worth the experience and I definitely won t come back.

Always very helpful staff in the nursery. Highly recommend.

They were contacted with our Veridian home. Absolutely awful customer service, installation, and plants. They were combative when we explained issues. We wouldn t hire them directly.

Theyll build you a huge rock wall and put zero landscape fabric behind it so that within a few years all the soil washes out behind it and will also place drainage lines pointing uphill. So yea, use Bruce Company if you like shoddy work, wasting money and having to redo projects.

I love coming to The Bruce Compnay. Its a dangerous place to spend a lot of money for plant lovers

I tried to get a bid from Bruce for a landscaping project for my home. They were one of three companies I contacted. Unlike the other bidders they spent about five minutes at my house and when I tried to follow up on the status of the bid, they never returned phone calls or emails. The estimated cost of the project was $10,000 to $15,000. When I called to complain about the lack of customer service and responsiveness to my calls, they said a manager would call me back. Never happened. I am going with a different bidder. Dont even bother. They dont need the business.

Has ALL my gardening and garden plants I want! And their classes offered are a bonus that people should take advantage of!

I m always amazed when I go into The Bruce Company at the wide variety of items. Mostly because it s bigger than it seems from the road, and also because they cater to all gardeners, big and small. We went looking for a Magnolia bush and they had multiple plants in several varieties. We found the perfect one and took it home. It s a must-stop every spring!

A huge variety of plants, tools, and materials to meet needs between a small potted plant. To full-bore landscaping. Service was top notch.

Have purchased a few things there over the years. Prices are a little high but they have a great selection.

The good: they grow their plants and trees from seeds and are a local business. The bad: the salespeople (James in my case) made promises that simply werent backed up. When I held them to account for promise they made, I received blame for their plants and trees not surviving (they blamed me, the wind, and the local animal population - true story). I get that they need to make money and have no problem supporting good businesses who back up their products. Unfortunately, The Bruce Company is not that vendor. My recommendation: for the money youll spend, find a business other than The Bruce Company for your trees, grass, and landscaping. They do not back up their products and services like they should for the prices they charge. I replaced my dead Bruce Company tree with a beautiful maple tree from Jung Garden Center.

I visited on a Saturday afternoon with only 40 minutes to closing. I was looking for flowers but didnt have a clear idea of what I wanted. Frank was extremely helpful. He showed us a lot of flowers and even told me how to take care of it. He gave us space to choose without forcing or pressuring. Everyone else at the shop was really nice even if we were cutting it close to closing time. It was a great experience and we left with a beautiful new orchid to brighten up my living room.

The Bruce Company did our landscaping for our home we bought through Veridian. Overall, we re pretty disappointed. They didn t plant all the right plants at first, and we had to reach out several times to get the correct plants. But the real issue was they were difficult to work with throughout the process. They were often combative when we explained issues we were seeing. We wouldn t hire them directly in the future.

Be very careful if you have any rock gardens with weed barriers. Their staff have no problem punching holes in the barrier. No response at all from the company rep when I addressed it with them. I didnt even hire them, but they entered my property to place warning signs for a lake they chemically treated. The sign was placed in the rock garden about 6 inches away from my yard which would have been much more suitable.

Great selection and a very knowledgable team.

Lets just say they do not do what they say they will....Met with them at the house and explained in detail what was needed on a fence job. Specifically said they can not tie into the neighbors fence as it is not on our property...so what do they do, they tie into it. The proposal we signed had more dots and xs on it and was very unclear. They say they did not bid that after we said we needed it. To make a long story short, they want to charge an additional $1,400 for the section now. In no way were they willing to do anything to help resolve this. I would not trust them on any future job. Extremely disappointed...... ***This is an update! They said they would contact me to discuss the botched job several weeks ago....not surprised that I have not heard from them. They do not value customers !!!!

ATTENTION ALL SHOPPERS!!! This company is very greedy and self-serving. They are racist to their black/brown workers, and dont pay their skilled, veteran employees like they do their young and eager counterparts. They do not listen to customer or employee criticism, and their HR department only serves to save face for the company. Spend your hard-earned dollar somewhere that cares about their workers.

Has David Austin Roses!

Staff was very helpful finding the shrubs I wanted ( I wish I could remember the womans name). The shrubs were in great shape, well cared for. Frank offered to load them for me and did you carefully. Very pleasant experience all around.

Frank helped us make decisions on which tree to purchase for a specific space. He also helped us with some perennials. He was knowledgeable, professional, and personable. I was so glad and grateful for his help.

Stopped in during a late lunch hour around 1:15 pm on a Tuesday looking for a wedding gift and some specific plants. It was me and one other car in the parking lot, and I only encountered 2 other customers. Although there were staff throughout the store and in the garden center (I counted 10), only one person stopped and asked if I needed assistance-and he was very helpful. The rest of the staff seemed more interested in chatting with each other or carrying on with their tasks than checking to see if a customer needed help finding anything. Disappointing.

Always a fantastic afternoon here, Great staff, fun place to splurge on gardening items!

Horrible company. Employees are uncooperative and careless

They still have time to improve customer service and get five star. Little over a week of landscaping, Not happy at all!

We had a negative experience working with Bruce Company. We wanted their help planting trees, re-seeding and re-grading our yard. Greg visited to look at the property and understand our wants, and we made sure to tell him our budget range multiple times. Each time agreeing that he could design something within our budget. He visited again with his design and spent an hour with us meticulous addingd things and clarifying things within the design. When the quote came back, what he had designed was 4x our budget, with the original design without any additions or changes probably 3x or so our original budget that we gave them. It felt like a complete waste of our time and a way to upsell things without any transparency to cost. We also requested an itemized list to see what the pricing was to make some cuts, and they would not provide it which was super shady. What ended up being within our budget was like 5 trees just bare planted, and they recommended phasing the project. We ended up only using them to re-grade the yard (mostly to get our $600 design fee they charge) back. Our work was scheduled for August and kept getting pushed back, and they finally made it back out in late October, which is really not ideal for re-seeding a lawn. So we paid to have them re-seed our lawn during non-optimal growing conditions, and they don t make any guarantees about the successful growing of the lawn. Greg seemed like a nice guy, but I have to say that the Bruce Company way of working is not consumer friendly due to the lack of transparency, timeliness of response and overall value of what you get. We ended up going with SRB s trees (they have their pricing right online and are super great to work with) and getting 19 trees planted for UNDER THE BUDGET that Bruce Company quoted us for the first phase of a few trees of our project.

I passed this place for years because I don t have gardening and landscaping needs but I saw an ad for their holiday gift selections. Looked like I might be able to find holiday hostess and coworker gifts, and it was. I also discovered that it s probably a great place to find unique little gifts for people all year long. I ll definitely shop there again when I need a unique gift that s nice quality but won t cost a fortune. (they also have some stuff that does cost more if you re looking for something special!)

Terrible service to our HOA today. Many older residents forced to shovel their own sidewalks and driveways. Bruce Co didnt even get to our area in the development until after dark. Because our development wasnt cleared earlier in the day, we now have serious icy conditions to navigate for the next 2-3 weeks. Very disappointed.

Very nice store. Its a little pricey but there is a large selection for all green thumbs. The houseplants are very full, good selection.

Very good food and great service despite being very busy it was good

I could live here!

They dont answer their phone.

Plants look nice at the garden center... We bought 9 perennial plants and only 6 came back the following year. Bruce of course doesnt warranty the $90+ of plants that died. Of note, we took care of the plants appropriately and they seemed to do fine. Other similar plants we bought elsewhere came back just fine this year. Tl;Dr: very overpriced and poor quality plants.

The owner and staff are incredibly kind! They have a wonderful selection of plants, pots, and supplies.

Was so excited to learn of this place on our move to Middleton. So disappointed in the *actual* experience. Astonishingly rude staff for working in the joyful world of gardening?! Observed what appeared to be the manager literally yelling at a vendor in the lobby. Overall very overpriced and unfriendly. Highly recommend K&A or orchids if you like your plants with a side of dignity and kindness.

Weve had an atrocious experience with Bruce Company, as have many of our neighbors. The people doing the landscape work are great. The people in the office are horrendous. They didnt complete service, and the higher up we went, the worse the service was. Our last two interactions could not have been worse, with one of the two men actually yelling at me when I shared my concerns about their unsatisfactory work. They then lied repeatedly to get out of completing the job, despite me providing them with correct information on at least 5 occasions in writing and over the phone. Save yourself from this headache, and choose literally any other company.

Amazing

Bruce company can usually be counted on for rude/aloof service but we have gone back the past few years because they would plant our window boxes if we bought the overpriced plants there. This summer, there were at least 5 employees standing around and we were told we don t do that anymore due to staffing. Literally 3 people stood around discussing how to tell us no. We had picked out all of our plants and ended up leaving them there. We were willing to pay their inflated prices when it came with service but not without. Urban gardens took great care of us and didn t even dish up any attitude like they do at Bruce.

A beautiful very complete garden center. Found a fabric lattice for training a vine. I have been a customer for 35 years but now my gardens are so productive I should sell back perennial stock!

Helpful staff especially Elisa. She took time and researched products for us.

What should have been a positive customer experience (the sales and delivery experience was good) turned out to be poor. Shortly after delivery we discovered several fasteners missing from the back of the expensive patio furniture we paid to have assembled and delivered. We contacted them early July and now nearly 2 months have passed and the fasteners have not been installed. We still cant use the chair since it is unsafe because of the missing fasteners and summer is quickly coming to an end. Bruce Company, I ask again to please resolve this issue.

Its just nice walking thru Bruce company - especially spring & fall! They always have great plants - in the fall lots of mums and in spring -- everything that flowers for your garden. They have good staff who roam & help w/info on plants.

Poor customer services

Empty

Expensive. K and A garden center, cheaper better selection.

Christmas at Bruces is wonderful. So many ideas, sights, smells.

Fantastic selection of tropical plants

Have worked with many snow removal companies over the years and The Bruce Company is by far THE BEST! This is the first time we have had residents calling our office to let us know what a great and amazing job they have done each time it has snowed. Would HIGHLY recommend.

The storefront staff are amazing. I cant recommend them enough if youre considering doing any lawn care or gardening.

Great place, everyone is very helpful

Best company In the state of Wisconsin

Great selection of perennials and annuals. Huge selection of trees. Houseplant section is also great.

Good place to get trees, shrubs and flowers

Treat retail customers poorly... I had a simple question, regarding product availability. The first time I called, I was on the phone for 3 or 4 minutes and was hung up on before talking to anyone. I called back and talked with someone that passed me off to a voice mailbox. I called a third time, the same lady that passed me off, passed me off to the voicemail again. After telling me that they were understaffed. The one human I was able to talk to had no interest in helping me. Im quite sure she could have gotten up from her chair, and found out if the product I was looking for was available or not.

Helpful associate in the greenhouse. Also friendly folks in the gift department.

Beautiful plants but expensive! Well stocked, friendly, helpful staff.

I purchased a Veridian home about a year ago. The Bruce company seeded my lawn and planted my trees and shrubs per contract. I was told that they would replace the dead shrubs but I would need to wait a year to see how they did. I replaced some of the dead ones out of pocket because it was so pathetic looking. I also asked if they could re seed areas of my lawn where there were large bare spots but they refused stating your lawn is not a washout!Very poor customer service, buyer beware!

A little price, arbrovit thiny

Had a project looked at,for shoreline improvements, contacted them after 4 wks.and steven Swenson said they still had to contact people.ok 5 wks later still no contact.this prevented me from taking other bids.I thought Bruce companies could handle it,I was wrong

I had heard good things about the Bruce Co from a friend and was very much looking forward to buying some beautiful plants there. Well, today was the day! The woman who helped me was really great and knew her stuff. I really appreciated her help. When I went to check out there were about 6 cashiers standing around. Apparently the system was down. I explained that my trip there was 1 hour round trip. They refused to hand write a receipt claiming they had no paper or pens. I could have written a check or paid in cash. There were a out 10 people in line. A company of this size should certainly have a backup plan for if/when IT is down. They did offer to hold your order for later. Management should know that this is poor customer service. My time and money were wasted. Not going back.

Great as always for whatever season.

Terrible service on the phone. Could not talk to a live person before making the 20 mile trip. Decided not to go to the store very disappointing.

Quality grown plants, trees& shrubs. Friendly staff. Great outdoor furniture too.

Great local garden center.

They filled in our grass, and its mostly rock. They refilled a washout, and it washed out that day. They refilled, and my dogs are pulling out rocks, mud, and metal u-shaped forks. They arent pulling out grass, because Bruce Company Im certain didnt use seed. Not even counting our two pairs of dead trees they gave us. I wouldnt even use their service if they were free. Veridian should fire then from being their service provider, because I wont be going through viridian again after this.

I ve always had a pretty good experience at Bruce. Yes, their plants are a little pricier than at some other places, but they are generally also much larger and healthier too. I ve had excellent service outside, and many different employees have taken time to show me options when I m looking for something. They have more variety than many places too, especially the big box stores. I ve also had great service inside too, with questions about indoor plants and issues with invasive weeds and pests. They know their stuff! I was a little disappointed when they told me that the ball and burlap tree I purchased ($$$), that began to curve significantly over the winter wasn t covered by any warranty. We planted the tree correctly and it now looks kinda like a boomerang. They did help me try to figure out how to stake it so it would straighten, but only time will tell if that works.

I love that this place is local, they have a great selection- especially houseplants, and it was pretty easy to navigate by myself. Employees were very nice and helpful. They are just a bit expensive, especially pots. But not as expensive as their competitors, cough cough Klein s cough.

Great place with friendly staff and great service.

I reached out to Bruce Co early this spring to schedule a water feature project. I had extreme issues getting responses from them over a 3 month time period. They seemed to lose track of my request, never returned phone calls, but continued to reassure me that they wanted my business when I called repeatedly. They made site visits twice but never followed up with me. After a month of not hearing back, I called again and was reassured that they had me on the schedule for the week of 6/7 but they had been too busy to send mock-up options for my design - they said mock-ups would be sent that day, which never happened. We are now a month past my scheduled construction date and I never heard a single thing. Nice enough people, but totally incompetent customer service. I dont understand why they would send someone to do measurements and then never follow through. It seems like they had intentions to follow through but they were simply too disorganized to run the business. I do not recommend working with Shane who runs their Aquatics program because it seems to be managed very poorly. I wouldnt trust them with my business at this point due to how hard its been to work with them.

the staff members are really nice and friendly

The best place. I always enjoy seeing whats new. Or in todays case, what is on sale! Christmas ornaments, annuals, perenials!! Soo much!! A great place to cruise the garden plants on a steamy hot day!! Five stars!

I go to the Bruce Company a lot as I have a houseplant problem. They always have a great selection of house plants of all sizes, and I think their selection of pots is the best in town. There are lots of funky colors and interesting designs! The reason I m giving 5 stars is due to a really wonderful interaction I had with the owner, Judith. Their credit card machine was down and I don t carry cash. Unfortunately that meant I wasn t going to be able to leave with my new dragon tree and pot to go with it. Unexpectedly and completely unnecessarily, Judith came over and asked to comp the plant and pot for me. It wasn t too expensive, but I wouldn t have minded putting it on hold and coming back the next day, which I told her. But she insisted. It was a really sweet act of kindness that cemented my view of the business, and it s that type of person I want to do business with. I ll be returning for years to come to fuel my plant addiction! They know how to treat their customers well.

Great plants with exceptional service!!!

Did not have a great experience with the Bruce company with our new home. We were supposed to meet with them prior to moving in, but a meeting was never set up and then they randomly showed up to install the default selection of plants and trees. Shortly after that, they randomly appeared with another plant saying it was for us and planted it right in-between two other plants that shortly after grew so large they killed the new one. We also had a few dead trees and divots in the grass, it took a while for them to get back to me and even longer to come fix it. The replacement tree they delivered looked almost as dead as the one they were replacing. I asked about this and they told me it should be okay and will grow back. It didn t and the tree ultimately died. I asked if they would be willing to replace it given how things unfolded, they said no, the trees have no warranty and they can t make any exception. I would not recommend them at all and have heard similar thoughts from others in the neighborhood.

Beautiful plants and a great Christmas display with a variety of decorations and gifts.

Beautiful store. Getting sales help is awful. Prices exactly what you expect with upscale retailers $$$

Very unhappy about their return policy for Christmas. You had to return Christmas items by December10. Yet Christmas isn t until the 25th and how was I to know they already had the ornament. This stinks! I am done shopping at Bruce s! I not even going to give them a one star. But I had to, very sad!!

Went to Bruce last week with my family and picked up a new pot with some of the awesome houseplants that were on sale. After a few days I noticed the pot was starting to crack and then the dirt started falling out. I repotted the plants and then brought the broken one in to ask someone why that would have happened. I don t remember her name, but the worker helped me find a replacement even without a receipt. I was SO happy with my experience and will definitely be back for more!

Expensive.

We own a Veridian home. Bruce Company planted one tree- it died. They replanted the tree- it died. We then dug up the tree and found this. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, balled and burlapped trees need to be removed from the cage and the burlap released. How is the tree supposed to grow if stuck in this ball? Obviously fast planting and greed are the motivation of this company and not quality. Do NOT use their services. Veridian should STRONGLY reconsider using them as a contracted service.

The Bruce Company appears to cut corners and values money over quality. The did a horrible job landscaping my yard which is not evenly graded and have planted two trees both of which have died. I dug up my second tree to find the burlap and wire cage still attached and the roots covered in clay. A simple google search informed me that this is not the proper way to plant a tree. Please shop elsewhere and save yourself money and hassle.

We bought bluberries and chilli starter kit.

BUYER BEWARE WITH TREE PLANTING SERVICES: We had a home built with Veridian builders in Middleton, June of 2018. Part of the build package included three spruce trees planted in our yard by the Bruce company. Here we are 1.5 years later and having a large back yard patio project completed by a separate company that requires 2 of the spruce trees to be removed for the project. Both trees were barely nudged by a skid steer and fell over. Both trees still had the metal wire AND several layers of burlap wrapped around the root ball. No new roots were able to grow in nearly two years. You must remove the burlap and wire prior to planting so the tree can root in the surrounding earth. Advertised professional tree planting is a scam through Bruce company. The scary part about this is that in 10-15 years we would have a very large tree with no root foundation that would easily topple in a windstorm, potentially landing on someone or something. We still have one other spruce in place that we are currently making plans to have removed over safety concerns at our cost. A landscaper we know in the area confirmed that they see this a lot with Bruce company trees, unfortunately after the tree has fallen.

Wonderful selection, great customer servive

Hands down the very BEST! Extremely knowledgeable, professional, and expedient in their service!

Very good

We built with Veridian, and this was the only part of the process that I would avoid. We were initially cut out of the design process, the wrong landscaping was planted, our lawn was wrecked when they planted the one next door, and there was little to no customer care on their end. Their overall process was disappointing. We will not be doing business with Bruce Company again.

G probably unavoidable this year, but stock was down significantly. What they did have was high quality. Staff were friendly while respecting distances.

Very helpful staff!

The staff really seem to know what they are doing. Not a box store experience. They took extra time and fit 6 foot b&b white pines into my minivan a few years ago. I just ordered 25 arbor vitae for delivery, good advice at checkout and in the lot. They push this root powder on purchase, it gives a 5 year warranty on all trees.

They have a great variety for fruits and vegetables compared to other garden centers in the area. In the spring they have an amazing selection of heirloom variety tomatoes, and at the same price point you see elsewhere around town. They also have an excellent variety of heirloom seeds for all sorts of different vegetables. Their perennials (flowers and fruits) are a bit more expensive than other places but they usually have better varieties and the plants look like theyre more mature and in better shape.

Social distancing and masks were worn by employees and most customers. Excellent selection of plants and garden supplies.

I bought a couple perennials here and both are doing really well. I live on the east side but will be coming back. Compared to Klein s there seems to be a wider selection and while prices per plant can be higher most of the pots are bigger so you get a less vulnerable plant.

Mixed experience at Middleton store. Expensive (massive over pricing for some plants, soil) and difficult to get the help needed. Staff no where to be found. Extensive garden supply selection though, with some harder to find items. Likely best for an occasional stop, but will not be visiting for routine buys.

I strongly recommend going with a different landscaping company. The work on our new lawn was completed almost a year later than it was supposed to be completed, and was done so poorly that weve received several comments from our neighbors who had a different landscaping company how bad our yard looks compared to theirs. Erosion mats were never used on steeper slopes in our yard resulting in large areas of washout and bare areas with little to no grass growing. The areas that they did repair per our contract they used soil filled with large rocks that we needed to go pick out ourselves. Multiple complaints resulted in little being done to get the issues in our yard corrected. We are now spending hundred of additional dollars and hours trying to fix the poor job The Bruce Company did installing our yard.

Staff was extremely helpful and friendly, beautifully merchandised

Bruce is best!

It is nearly impossible to just speak to someone when you call them with a question. They always route you to voice mail, and it takes forever for someone to call you back. Website doesnt list their products. They lose my business because I just want to find out if they carry something before I run all the way out there, but when I cant reach them I just go somewhere else. I also find the staff are not very friendly, and they run out of stock very quickly in spring and summer.

A fantastic staff! So helpful and they truly care about your project.

Update after reply from Bruce Company: After Bruce Company stated that they had attempted to contact me three times, and after I had used their contact us section on their website, it came to light that my Veridian contact gave Bruce Co the wrong email. I had received absolutely no correspondence from them (and no one had tried to give me a call to ensure that my emails were received). Thus, it is fair to say I was shocked upon seeing the plants after getting no communication on my part. I am updating my review from 1 to 3 stars, because when the error between Veridian and Bruce was realized on their end, James, the Bruce rep, agreed to meet with me very quickly on-site. He caught me up to speed on the months worth of information I had missed out on due to the miscommunication. We agreed that many of the plants were dead, and he explained the warranty to me. I cannot give more than three stars for moving into a house with dead plants, but am planning to again update my reivew to 5 stars if Bruce Co upholds their agreement to replace all the dead plants this coming spring. ____________ Original review: I have to agree with the other Veridian home owners here. I am closing on new build home on 9/30. My rep with Veridian told me weeks ago I d be hearing from Bruce Co rep to pick my landscape selections, confirm my options, select the tree for the yard, etc. No one from Bruce contacted me and this conversation never happened. I emailed the generic contact info from their website over the weekend and have yet to get a response. Curious about what is going on, I decided to drive past my new house today...not only was a landscape design selected and planted without my input (which is frustrating itself, given that I was told I d be part of the process), but over HALF of the plants are DEAD! I mean, they are brown, dry, dropping, falling over, leaves falling off, etc. They look like they are ten years old and haven t been cared for in years, let alone planted within the past month. I don t see how this is acceptable to present to someone as a brand new homeowner with brand new landscaping before they even close on their home. I d really appreciate some communication and accountability.

Great selection, helpfull and friendly staff.

Great local garden supplies and other fun patio things.

We recently moved into a new Veridian home in Sun Prairie. Veridian made the mistake of using Bruce for the lawns. Going from house to house, the lawns are VERY INCONSISTENT. When we called Bruce, after several attempts, they told us the reasoning behind the inconsistencies was because of their community pile blah blah blah. When we called them to come out a reseed an AWFUL patch of lawn, they told us that they would not, because it was not covered under warranty...well what is Bruce, what is!? Oh, I almost forgot, they planted a DEAD tree as well. It looks AWFUL, only on in our neighborhood without any beautifully colored leaves on it...looks like Charlie Browns tree, no exaggeration at all. Do yourself a favor and do some additional research and look for a better company in the Madison area. Very poor choice on Veridians part as well. Can I give negative stars?

Provided very bad service and quality of plants with Veridian home package.

This is a great store. Great people. I wish the gift store buyer would focus on more local makers and fewer brands that can be purchased anywhere. But whatevs, we will be back!

Perfect time of the year to see the Christmas displays, so creative and we always find a gift for that someone special

Great customer service!

Good quality landscaping product and tons of variety.

I love The Bruce Company! Their plant selection is nice, and I enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful plants.

Disappointed. Not much inventory of any kind.

love this place! super friendly and attentive staff that helped me with my selections and provided excellent insight on caring for my plant purchases. highly recommended!!

I go to here often - they have fantastic selection and their houseplants are lush and super healthy, their plants always thrive the best of all the plants I buy. Staff isnt naturally of the approaching kind but honestly? I love taking a long stroll and checking everything out without being pestered. They are always friendly when I do approach with questions or asking for suggestions. Keep up the good work, guys!

Great plant selection & knowledge staff.

I was greeted at the door and the gentlemen took a cart and load all the items I need. Then I had to go to the back and pick up some items in the yard. The lady at the register called back to let the guys know what I needed and they met me in the parking lot with the items. Very friendly and helpful people.

Really good products and great selection. Minus one start because of high prices. I guess Middleton is an expensive area.

I tried to call to ask if they had a product I was looking for and had gotten there years before, but could never get an answer or call back. After owners responce. Too late, found my item at Steins in Waukesha.

Ive tried to contact Bruce Company for the past two weeks for a residential estimate on landscaping, but their account manager has never returned my calls. They did my landscaping two years ago for Veridian and perennial plants are already dead. Have decided to go another route. Sad....

I called The Bruce Company for a quote on residential landscaping. They originally did my yard with Veridian and we wanted to have more work done. Spoke with Jeremy, Account Manager for Residential services who said he would take a ride over and write up a quote. After two weeks, hadnt heard, so called him and was told This is our busy season, I cant fit you into my schedule. So one of the largest landscaping companies gives a paying customer the nose-up because its their busy season. So here I am giving them a review because its their busy season!

I wanted an estimate for an Irrigation System and to have edging installed, they wanted to charge me $150.00 just to come out and give me an estimate! Stay away from this company as there are plenty of Companies out there that will come out to your home at no charge. Olson Toon is one of many that will...

Bruce company is the single worst contractor that Veridian uses, this company is going to end up losing Veridian a significant amount of business. The Bruce company was supposed to install my yard By the 21st of August, it s now doubtful it will be installed by the end of the year. They don t return emails or calls. Overcharge for EVERYTHING! DO NOT USE them!!!!!!! They will not meet the timeline, the plants/grass will die off and they will be difficult to deal with to replace. They are the single biggest complaint from every homeowner in my neighborhood.

My review is based on multiple aspects of Bruce. We opted out of the Veridian-Bruce Plant Packages with our new home. Im glad we did as most of our neighbors plants died and/or werent replaced until mid-summer (worst time). We also had to redo the entire yard that was seeded as they either used a poor seed or just didnt care. Our entire lot had matting down to help with seeding/erosion, but we ripped it up as it does not degrade fast enough to allow grass seed germination. After we removed it, added new dirt/compost.. (Bruce/Veridian back fill/grade with w/e junk dirt they can find), the yard is recovering. Veridian will grade with dirt dug out from local lots, which is usually garbage and full of rocks and not healthy for a yard. Even the irrigation that was installed as a temp. item, was horrible. Going off at wrong times, watering concrete, sprinklers that didnt work at all or got stuck in one position. We removed all of it and just watered ourselves after day 2, results are great and explains why other neighbors had water bills in the $400-600 range after two months. The Veridian/Brice landscape/irrigation packages are worthless. I would highly suggest just spending that 2-4K yourself and having a great yard. (Ditch the Weedman stuff as well, toxic and not worth it) My 2 stars go towards the plants you can buy yourself. Thats the only way to get it done right. I have a yard full of plants from the nursery that are healthy and are 2-3 times bigger than the ones planted a year ago on other lots by Bruce. ~10% didnt make it through winter but those were replaced under the warranty. I would not choose Bruce to do any type of routine or new landscape installation. I do like the selection at the local shop though and they are usually helpful and nice people. Ever notice how all plants state to dig the hole twice as wide and as deep as the root-ball? Watch them the next time they plant something. Its almost always just as wide as I want to dig, and poorly done. Thats why they die. Do it yourself.

What a happy and friendly place! Sue was amazing!! I wasnt quite sure what i wanted, but she gave me some amazing choices and helped direct me complete with color photos and words of advice on planting. Superb customer care!! Leannar was a friendly and happy and helpful face at the checkout. Stop on in and enjoy some happy times!

Very poor customer service, no communication. Before knowing this we were going to hire them for more work, but thankfully there were red flags and we chose not to hire them for more. But, the work they did do needs repair and we can t get them to commit to that! So dissatisfied. Thank you for your response. The manager has not contacted me as promised,

We built a home on Lake Mendota last year and had the good fortune to select Steven Swenson and the team at the Bruce Company to handle all the landscaping. We had lots of work to do on the lake side to remove an old boathouse and completely re-think the landscaping. Steven was a dream to work with, as his knowledge of all the county regulations saved a great deal of time (any money) in the design process. He was able to design a plan that was far beyond what we could have come up with on our own. He was with us for about a year and a half from the initial design to final completion. We are grateful we chose the Bruce Company and we were able to work with Steven on our dream home project. We could not be happier!

Lots of greenery.

Ive never used their services, however one of their trucks almost ran me off of the road! Once they raced past me, they did the same to the cars in front me. While I had never heard of them before, I will now never use them as a customer.

Bruce Company landscaped my yard one year ago part of my Veridian Home package. Everything looked nice when planted, but this year over 50% of plants are dead and all beds are over-crowded with weeds. Weeds are expected but not covering all beds and plants. Have called multiple times and left messages for the Bruce Company rep I had one year ago, but no response. Absolutely awful experience with this company. Never would consider shopping or using them in the future.

Staff is very unfriendly and doesnt offer to help find things. I have shopped there in previous years, many times throughout the season and bought many many plants, trees and decor, however I will no longer be going. I experienced the terrible customer service twice this year already and have given up! I used to LOVE going to the Bruce Co.

When I wish to purchase plants or various garden items, I always drive out to Bruces first. Their personnel help me with ideas, solving problems, et cetera. The plants and trees that I purchase there are always first rate quality and, in many cases, guaranteed for a year.

Don t walk.. RUN from this company. We built a Veridian home last year and Bruce Company seeded our lawn. The results were bismal! Our backyard is still 50% covered in dirt and no grass is growing. They are complete liars and crooks and said they came back for a redo. No pre notification that they were coming to re seed and I also work from home so I did not see their truck pull up. I even contacted them with 3 emails to dispute that I did not get a redo on my lawn but they offered no help. My backyard looks like it belongs on East Washington street. They really take no time in helping the customer grow their lawn. I had to spend $100 out of my own pocket to correct the front yard at least. Horrible customer service. NEVER again!!

Last week, I was working on a problem area of my lawn wet area due to drainage. I initially went to a different nursery after reading the reviews here and got horrible service (Fellys on Nesbit Road). I decided to go back to Bruce Company because I love their selection. When I arrived, I walked over to the grasses area and within 1 minute, a woman came over and asked if I needed help. I explained my situation needing to find plants that can withstand wet soil and she was very helpful. I mentioned the idea of shrubs and she called over another woman. Together, we walked around the grounds, and I was provided several solutions along with a nice handout listing all the plants that met my needs. They left me to make my decision and didnt pressure me at all. The service was EXCELLENT and I felt they went above and beyond to make sure I was helped. Bruce Company is more expensive then other nurseries but I will never go anywhere else! P.S. Their Christmas tree selection is top-notch, as well.

Went into this place for the first time the other day looking for plants for my new apartment. I went in expecting to not enjoy myself based on the reviews of the others who have posted here. As soon as I pulled up and stepped out of my car, I came across an employee who did not greet me (expected that). Then, when I entered the doors, she was there again. This time, I took the initiative to acknowledge her with a hello and she replied back with the same. I made my way to the live plant section and was pleased to see such an array to choose from. So much nicer than what was available at Home Depot (thankfully). The store is really large with many different areas to shop (not just live plants). I have pets and limited light, so I needed some help with trying to find plants that would work that are non-toxic. I approached another worker there and asked for help. It took her a while to warm up to me initially, but I know that some folks just arent super social. However, once we started to chat, she offered many helpful suggestions. This may just be that place where the customer needs to make the first move. I left without making a purchase as I needed to do some more research on her plant suggestions. I dont want to invest $$$ only to have them not work out (die). But, once I decide, Ill be back to Bruce to make those purchases.

Lots of great plants and landscape materials, plus many other items. The staff are very knowledgeable and friendly.

I spent thousands of dollars on patio furniture that broke one month after warranty lapsed. They wouldn t stand by their product nor would the company that made the furniture. I will not purchase anything from this company again. Ok, give me the phone number and the first name of your contact person who can resolve this for me. I don t want the last five people I spoke to who were of no help either.

If you bring a bush/tree back that died be ready to hear the 6 different ways that it was your fault. We purchased 5 mugo pines in 2015, 3/5 died. When we went to the counter to get our store credit I was hit with a barrage of questions about why they died. The lady made me describe when they were planted, how the soil was, my watering technique, my fertilizing technique, etc the entire time countering with what she would have done instead, she literally made a tssk sound when I described how we were watering them. It felt like I was talking to a teacher about why my paper wasnt given a good grade. Mugo pines are supposed to be very hearty and low maintenance. They dont require much care or much water. Thats why we bought them. Your bushes died, you have a guarantee. Dont make me feel stupid. Give us our money back so we can get new ones. BTW, ive purchased 8 bushes from The Bruce Company, 4 have died. Ive purchased 12 from Menards, none have died...and Menards is half the Price...

Terrible. Very misleading. I live 2 miles from the store and was quoted a price for stone delivery only to find out the delivery would be calculated from Verona and would include an additional $50.00 charge. The old bait and switch!

The women that assisted me were beyond helpful. Im so happy with the plant and pot I got for my mom and it is much more beautiful than what I would have come up with alone.

Execellent

The Bruce Company asked permission to use my property to transport materials for work on an adjacent lot. The supervisor promised they would landscape my property back when they were through. Huge Lie!! They ruined my existing lawn with their equipment and then just planted some seed. If they had come back to check up on their work maybe they would have seed how badly everything washed away two days after they put it down. Now I am stuck with a quickly eroding valley that I will have to spend money on to repair and the Bruce Company ignored my emails. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!

They did landscaping for our Veridian home and everything they did is done incorrectly and going to cause us lot of trouble in future. Every interaction with them required tons of calls, emails and repeat visits. On one side of the house, soil level was above the foundation. It is common sense that soil should be at least 6 inches below foundation. Nobody reviewed their work. Grading is wrong in many other places of the lawn. After seeding they are supposed to attach pipe to all downspouts. They left one downspout on top retaining wall rock. I had called them up as soon as I noticed it but they didnt fix it in time. Because of their mistake half of the lawn got washed out when it rained. We have been putting top soil and reseeding the yard regularly to fix this but our yard is still bumpy in lot of places. There were many mistakes with the way they set up temporary irrigation system. When they make such mistakes, they have nobody to verify the quality of their work. When we find these issues, they dont respond in time. After many calls and emails, when they actually come to fix things, they do it without telling us and do it incorrectly. So we have to start calling them again.

Everything for your garden and patio!

Shopping at the Bruce Company is always a delightful experience. Great quality plant materials. I always find something interesting for my gardens.

So Disappointing. I used to be a big fan, and spent a lot of money in both the nursery and the huge gift shop. The nursery is still nice, but our landscaping is completed so I need little in the nursery. My low rating is strictly due to the store/gift shop. They used to have a wonderful Halloween selection - now they have virtually nothing. Their Christmas decorations used to be so wonderful that I would stop in almost every weekend with family and friends. The group of us spent thousands every year. It used to be so jam packed with lovely items that you had visit several times to see everything. Now they made the store bigger, but the last two years at Christmas were awful. There were so few items to chose from, and while they were always high priced, now it is outrageous. A large area of the front part of the store has scarves, purses and jewelry - YUCK! I can buy that at so many places - I dont want to go to Bruces for that! One employee tried to tell me they still had tons of things, but with the store bigger it just didnt look like it. I couldnt help myself - I said are you kidding me?!? They actually laughed and said they had been TOLD to say that. The large, badly lit and empty looking store was depressing at the holidays. Should have known when the parking lot was always half empty on the weekends. Our girls shopping weekends no longer include Bruces. Someone took over a couple years ago and changed everything - and they should be fired. One of my friends asked a cashier what happened - that the previously beautiful holiday displays were now awful (there is more at Boston Store, for goodness sakes!), and the cashier whispered that they hear that a lot, but management doesnt want to hear it, so no one says anything. Well, management - I can only surmise that your sales have plummeted during the holidays. You should listen to your customers and change your ways.

Cashiers are not trained very well. Every time I go here to make purchases for the grow season, it takes 4 or 5 people to check me out. Bruce is a wonderful place, but checking out is a nightmare.

Tried to replace a tree the graft died on under their one year warranty, they only give you store credit and since the quality trees the they had in stock was so poor I waited until this spring to go get the replacement. Turns out they raised the price and they wouldnt give me the same price when I polity asked. Cant call it a FULL WARRANTY if you cant get a full replacement.

Worst customer service and quality Ive ever experienced from a company. We bought a Veridian house so they were already contracted to do the yard. After getting quotes from other landscaping companies Bruce Company was 2.5 to 3 times the cost. We were told numerous times that their high price would come with 60 years of experience and top of the line professional quality. Well the yard looks like crap, is full of weeds, ruts, and pools with water when it rains. The landscaping they did is terrible quality, and most of the plants they planted are covered in a black fungus, dead, dying or about to die! The landscaping wasnt even done by them but by another landscape firm they contracted. I could have cut out the middle man (Bruce Company) and hired the other company directly and saved thousands. The boulder retaining walls they installed didnt have landscape fabric behind them so when it rains all the dirt from behind the wall washes down. When the plans did not match the actual yard instead of calling me they just they placed a planting bed in the corner of the back yard, not anywhere close to where I wanted it. I was assured they would fix it, their fix was removing it and not giving me a refund. Very unprofessional, slow response times, limited design choices, poor quality, overpriced work. I regret not listening to my Verdian personal builder when he said I could have the work done by anyone.

Big thanks for making my last minute Christmas purchase happen when I got there just after closing time--great service! Much appreciated!

Everyone there is so helpful and friendly, I could chat with any of them all day. They have such a unique offering. No matter what department I am looking in, I find items I LOVE! Not your run of the mill place. Everything I have bought there has been high quality whereas I have bought similar things at other stores that do not hold up. Awesome patio and deck decor, personal favorite.

Expensive.

I went to The Bruce Company on 5-2-13 to purchase some ground cover, perennials. After a nice young lady assured me that the kind I wanted would do great in the area I was thinking about planting, I purchased and planted the same day. I questioned a couple because they looked a little dried out, She said they would be fine. A couple weeks later they all died. I havent done anything different to my yard or plants. I called to see if they would do an exchange or refund. Neither! $60 down the drain. Menards or Home Depot it is from now on!!!! Very Disappointed!!!

Bought a Veridian home which this company did the landscaping and yard work for. They cut corners on every level. The boulders stacked around the house were not placed on filter fabric, therefore they are eroding away and are loose and are a danger to our children. When the house had landscaping done and mulch placed, the mulch was just thrown on top of dirt, instead of the right way, which is to lay filter fabric first. We now get to rip it out and do it right at our expense due to all the weeds we now get to deal with ( a new house. ) The yard we were left with is full of fescue ( 2 types ), thistle and clover. We pointed this out to our Bruce representative and she said small-bladed fescue was ok and to kill the large-bladed with grass killer ( fescue is not ok ). Again, at our expense. No offer to send her people out to spray and get the yard of our brand new house turned around. She saw cinch bugs as well and didnt offer to take care of them. We have now found grubs. Our newly seeded back yard has been eaten by these insects. Her fix was to hand us grass seed and told us to water it. Again, no offers to send the company out to make right the yard that was obviously neglected, only suggestions that all involved OUR money and time on a brand new house. We dont recommend The Bruce Company or that builder.